Do low tar cigarettes make it harder to quit the habit?
A massive study of nearly 31,000 American smokers revealed that switching to a low tar or light cigarette actually decreased the likelihood of a smoker giving up the habit. Researchers believe that switching to low tar cigarettes ingrains smoking behaviors more deeply, making it much harder to stop. It is further believed that those who switch mistakenly feel that light brands do not have the same negative health effects as regular cigarettes, and are therefore an acceptable alternative. Is it all about the tar? Despite the pervasive belief that low tar cigarettes are safe, smokers need to be wary of the numerous other chemical compounds in tobacco smoke that are deemed harmful. With each puff, a smoker, and everyone in the vicinity of the smoker, is exposed to a substance list resembling a formula from Frankenstein’s lab: carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, ammonia, and formaldehyde, just to name a few. Many of these chemical effects on the body are unknown, while others are well docum
